Yeah. I wasn't a big fan of the armor in 3e. It was the other extreme - too complicated. You had to always remember all the nuances of everyone's armor. Especially as a DM, it was a pain in the rump.
Even what I've described is a bit complicated. You have to try to remember what armor gets what disadvantage, and if you combine a Light and Medium, you have to combine the disadvantages and take the lowest Dex Max. Still, what I'm proposing isn't that complicated. It's more like you look up Padded Armor and see that it provides Disadvantage to Athletics (except for Shove) and Acrobatics. It doesn't do Disadvantage for Stealth. If you just read the description, it makes sense, so it's not too hard to remember. Astarion's wearing Padded Armor. It's made of linen or wool. They aren't real noisy fabrics, but the armor is padded. So, it's going to be a bit more bulky. In comparison, you give Astarion Leather. Leather is sleek and hugs the body. However, just moving in leather makes noise. It kinda makes a creaking sound when you move, especially if leather rubs against leather. Thus, no restriction to movement, but it makes noise so restriction to stealth.
The thing I noticed, though, is that there is no armor that fits the stereotypical rogue's needs perfectly. Either you are Acrobatic or Stealthy with light armor. You can't have both. So what if you want to be a rogue that is both stealthy and acrobatic? Either don't wear armor or best find armor that is magically enhanced to do both. By providing these limitations to armor, you open doors for enhanced items. Instead of just Leather + 1, you can now have Masterwork Leather Armor which provides the bonsues for Leather and makes it so that it doesn't give Disadvantage on Stealth. Or you can have Masterwork Padded Armor which provides the bonuses for Padded and makes it so that it doesn't give Disadvantage on Acrobatics and/or Athletics.
See. The same goes for all the armors. It doesn't have to be as complicated as 3e, but add just a smidge more restriction/limitation and it suddenly creates value for all armor types and leaves room for more diverse masterwork/magic items.
